1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to painting means and more particularly to an improved multi-well color wheel paint palette.
2. Prior Art
An artist from time to time normally applies colored oil, water color or tempera paints from tubes in small amounts to separate areas on a flat board or palette and then mixes them in a different area on the board and applies the mixture by brush to a suitable surface, such as a canvass or watercolor or tempera sheet or board in creating a painting. The paints usually stay unsolidified only for a short while and when painting for the day is over, may be scraped from the palette or the palette may be thrown away. Sometimes the palette is covered to keep the paint from drying out and otherwise protected until reused. In the case of dried watercolors, they can be reused merely by applying a wet brush to them.
A number of palettes have been designed to facilitate storage and and application of paints. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,777,414, 1,805,520, 4,027,404, 3,815,265, 748,026, 2,124,810, 2,565,912 and 4,046,250, directed to circular palettes and other devices with spaced paint wells or areas and, in some instances, removable plain covers. In some instances, the wells are arranged to facilitate learning of color blending techniques and contain the paints themselves in a graduated color array. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,815,265, 4,027,404, 1,805,520 and 3,777,414. Most such palettes and teaching aids, however, provide little room for mixing paints together.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved art color teaching aid in the form of a palette which permits paints to be held in separate wells and arranged in an informative color sequence in a minimum of space while providing a large paint-mixing area. The palette should be compact, inexpensive, light weight and attractive and include means to protect the paints and preferably provide additional paint-mixing areas for use when needed. The wells of the palette should preferably be shaped to pool and conserve the paint.
The palette is fabricated inexpensively and durably of molded plastic or rubber, or coated fiberboard, or cast or stamped metal or the like, and has an attractive appearance and compact size. Further features of the palette of the present invention are set forth in the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.